MovieStars is a new website for streaming free video. Like many other free streaming sites we’ve reviewed this year, MovieStars, while appearing to host content locally, is what we’ve begun to label as a “file-referring” site. Examples of similar services include SpaceMov, 123MoviesGo, and AllMovie. These types of sites don’t actually host content on their servers but refer users to the offsite locations for the actual video file.
Most sites do this because file-sharing unlicensed content is a copyright violation in the United States and the tech debt associated with hosting local files is enormous. But by referring users to offsite locations, free streaming services like MovieStars can operate without technically violating copyright law.
Confusing? Unfortunately, streaming unlicensed content on your end isn’t straightforward from a legal perspective either.
But is MovieStars legal to use and safe? We review the free streamer.
Accessing unlicensed content
As we’ve established from our favorite attorney Adam Michaels, streaming unlicensed content, while undoubtedly illegal from a sharing perspective, may not equate to a clear-cut violation of copyright restrictions for the viewer.According to Michaels, if you watch something on a free streaming site, you may not be breaking the law – at least not currently.”Whether it’s wrong or not, in a moral sense, is something that you can ask your friends or your minister. But whether it’s illegal from a copyright viewpoint, the best answer is, probably not on an individual basis,” says Jim Gibson, law professor and founder of the Intellectual Property Institute. “This is because you are neither sharing copywritten content nor copying it. Downloading copywritten content is illegal because you are making a copy,” added Michaels, “however, streaming media is not because a new copy is not created.”
In this case, MovieStars may argue that they are not violating copyright law either, as technically, they are not making copies of the content themselves but linking to other sites where the files are hosted.
Of course, we could argue that a copy is made during the streaming process, even if it is just a local copy in the RAM, but we digress.
In any case, this article should not be used as legal advice.
Let’s dive into our review of this website.
Content Library
MovieStars has not been around that long. It is like a new kid on the block among free streaming websites. It has a monthly audience of only 36 thousand according to Privacy Savvy. Still, a decent selection of content is available at MovieStars, despite being a newer platform.
Honestly, we have no complaints. After all, the site is referring users to titles available offshore and most likely unlicensed. But many viewers around the world wouldn’t be able to access much of this content without these sites, so we review them.
So MovieStars having limited content isn’t terrible, it’s free (and again, if you’re in the US using this, shame on you), but the collection isn’t nearly as robust as sites like Solar Movie and Flixtor.
However, this website does many things right, which is why we are talking about it.
Ad annoyance
Maybe it is just because this website is new, but one remarkable thing about MovieStars is that there are fewer annoying pop-ups. You might even forget that you are using a free streaming website when an ad does not pop up in your face every other minute (though the ads are funnier, we got two messages from Angie in Ukraine in 60 seconds, all we needed to do was click – perfect timing for us to review the site!). Lol.
All that said, the ads aren’t so bad, relatively speaking.
VPN compatibility
MovieStars works fine with a VPN. Users can connect to the MovieStars website using VPNs to protect their digital privacy.
Layout and design
MovieStars’ layout and design are not the most attractive. It does feel a little old and outdated. However, it is not an issue; some may even like this retro theme.
Summary
Many viewers might be skeptical about using MovieStars because it is so new (and again, for viewers in the US, it is linking to content they probably don’t have permission to use). However, it seems to be safe enough and easy to access. At the end of the day, MovieStars has a decent catalog and the ads are less intrusive than most free streaming sites.
Pros
- Less annoying ads
- Easy to use
- Decent collection
Cons
- Slow arrival of new content
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